MyPhone Agua Hail Review: (Almost) A Killer 5-inch Budget Smartphone

MyPhone Agua Hail Review: (Almost) A Killer 5-inch Budget Smartphone

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Could’ve been one of the best smartphones in its category

When the MyPhone Agua Hail was announced, it looked to be one of the best budget 5-inch phones around for the price. Unfortunately, it had one, seemingly minor catch – it doesn’t have 3G connectivity. Yes folks, the MyPhone Agua Hail rely solely on 2G/EDGE and WiFi for internet connectivity, something that most of us on unlimited data connections rely on every day.

MyPhone Agua Hail Specs:

  • 1.3GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6572 chipset
  • Mali-400MP1 GPU
  • 512MB RAM
  • 4GB internal storage, expandable via microSD (up to 32G)
  • 5-inch display (TN panel), 480 x 854 resolution
  • 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
  • VGA front camera
  • 2,000mAh battery
  • Android Jelly Bean 4.2

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Curvy, solid build 

The overall design of the MyPhone Agua Hail isn’t bad, considering the price point it sits at. It’s not the thinnest of phones out there, though the curved sides make it easy to handle, considering its slight bulk. The volume rocker sits on the left side of the device while the volume button is located on the right side. Upon closer inspection, the volume and power button have concentric circle design etched into them, reminiscent of Asus’ Zenbook design, adding a nice, premium touch to the otherwise all plastic construction of the phone. The 3.5mm jack and the USB charging port are located on the top of the phone.

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The layout of the front of the MyPhone Agua Hail is typical Android – there are three touch sensitive keys near the bottom of the display, while the VGA camera sits near the top right corner.

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The back of the device uses a glossy plastic back with a subtle weave design built into it. We’re not a fan of the gloss plastic back, as it makes the Agua Hail feel too plasticky. The 5-megapixel camera sits on the back, and has an LED flash on the side. The MyPhone Agua Hail is a dual-sim smartphone.

TN display isn’t as bad as we thought

Like most budget smartphones, the MyPhone Agua Hail uses a TN (Twisted Nematic) display to cut costs. TN panels are much cheaper than IPS panels, though it does come with some issues. TN smartphones have bad viewing angles, and the MyPhone Agua Hail is no exception. If you’re not looking at the display at the right angle (slightly angled upward) the colors look off and washed out. That being said, it’s not a bad TN panel per se (we’ve seen worse) and the viewing angles are a little bit improved over other TN equipped panels we’ve encountered in the past.

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Great hardware for the price point

The MyPhone Agua Hail sports a dual-core MediaTek MT6572 processor chugging along at 1.3GHz. That’s paired with 512MB of RAM and a Mali-400 MP GPU. For all intents and purposes, the hardware combination of the MyPhone Agua Hail is good enough for general use, and possibly just a bit of gaming. We tried Plants Vs. Zombies 2 on it, and it ran well enough even with zombies on the screen. For GPU intensive games like Dead Trigger 2 however, the Agua Hail started to falter, and we experienced quite a bit of lag while trying to kill zombies. Clearly, this isn’t an Android gaming powerhouse.

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During our time with it, the MyPhone Agua Hail lagged only a few times during use while navigating the phone, and was almost always induced by our over enthusiasm in opening and running apps, though you do need to manage your expectations when it comes to downloading and running GPU intensive apps on this, hehe. The MediaTek MT6572 processor and Mali-400 MP GPU aren’t miracle workers, and can only go so far.

Forgettable camera

While the MyPhone Agua Hail has a 5-megapixel camera, it’s not really stellar, and is exactly what you’d expect from a camera in a budget 5-inch smartphone. It’s decent enough with enough light, but suffers immensely under low light and artificial lighting.

We want our 3G back

There’s an old saying that goes ‘you never appreciate something till it’s gone’. That has never been truer with the MyPhone Agua Hail and the missing 3G functionality. We’re the first to admit that 3G isn’t the fastest connection out there, but at least it’s something. With 2G/EDGE, even the simplest task like updating our Facebook status took ages to finish. The omission of 3G is a baffling choice, and as a reader noted in our initial unboxing article, has no practical purpose as the MediaTek MT6572 SOC already has 3G built-in the chip. Hopefully there’s a way that MyPhone can re-activate it via software patch (if there is a way to do it) because without it, the Agua Hail relies too much on Wi-Fi hotspots for internet connectivity.

Great battery life, but at what cost

There is one upside to the omission of 3G functionality though – battery life. With one less radio to worry about, the MyPhone Agua Hail went more than one day without needing to be charged, with moderate use. That’s with light gaming, and heavy browsing from a Wi-Fi hotspot. You could probably get more battery life out of it if you tweak your settings. Like anything battery related, YMMV.

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Verdict: Could have been a slam dunk for MyPhone

The MyPhone Agua Hail could have been one of the best 5-inch phones in its class with the hardware and the screen size. Unfortunately, the omission of 3G is just too hard of a pill to swallow for people like us who have unlimited mobile internet. It’s still a good value for Php 4,598, sure, but people who want 3G may just look elsewhere.

 

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